Perrottet government under pressure to reveal NSW pokies plan

Crossbench MPs and anti-gambling advocates are pressuring the Coalition government in New South Wales to reveal details concerning its plans for curbing problem gambling.

The call comes days after NSW Labor pledged to introduce a 500-machine cashless pokies trial, reduce the cash input limits on new gambling machines and prohibit pubs and clubs in the state from making political donations.

Wesley Mission’s chief executive, Stu Cameron, said, “It does put pressure on the premier to move away from statements and soundbites and offer us some detailed policy and commitments the electorate can assess.”

While a number of Coalition MPs did not initially support the introduction of a cashless gaming card in the state, the NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, has received praise for his advocacy.

He announced his intention to implement the reform and stated there was “no ambiguity” surrounding his intention. The premier has yet to reveal details of how the policy will operate. This includes if the scheme will have daily spending caps.

“The issues around that I will announce as part of a substantive package, but you will see very clearly that’s where we’re going,” Perrottet said on Monday.

On Monday, the NSW Labor, led by Chris Minns, announced a list of gambling reform policies they intended to tackle upon appointment. He revealed he would curb “problem gambling and illicit behaviour in the gaming industry”. Earlier on, the opposition faced some criticism concerning their refusal to support Perrottet’s poker machine reform.

As part of the new policies, a ban will be placed on the “VIP lounge” signs outside clubs and pubs. There will also be a reduction of the poker machines in NSW and reduced cash input limits on them. Although Minns had previously mentioned a voluntary cashless gaming trial instead of a mandatory one, the latter was proposed on Monday.

The NSW Labor leader revealed that a panel would be set up by Labor to supervise the careless gaming trial and implement the reform across the state if recommended. Minns, however, noted that “industry participants would be included in the panel”.

The inclusion of this group, according to Cameron, would result in some difficulties in the panel’s attempt to attain independence.

“It makes sense in that all stakeholders needs to be involved in the process, but the devil is in the detail,” Cameron said.

“Independent has to be truly independent. It can’t be a mouthpiece for the gaming lobby.”

Cameron also raised concerns about the proposed $500 input level for the new machines. He claimed that while it may not be a hassle to implement it in existing poker machines, he worried that as part of its trial, it would make use of around $27 million from the $100 million fine paid by The Star Sydney casino to reimburse clubs and pubs.

“If there is a huge reduction in revenue, the question has to be asked: how much of that is due to a reduction in money being laundered, for example, or from gambling harm? Do we really want [it] to be compensation for a drop in revenue from laundering money? I don’t think anyone would support that,” Cameron said.

Anti-gambling advocates and cross-bench MPs previously called out the suite of policies saying that they did not stretch far enough to effect proper change. Sydney’s Independent MP, Alex Greenwich, acknowledged the progress but said it was a “low bar”.

“This is obviously some progress, but it is still not good enough,” Alex said.

“We will still have at over 85,000 gaming machines in NSW where people can launder money, where gambling harm can be caused, with no end date.”

He also called for Perrottet’s government to reveal more details concerning its cashless gaming reform. The Premier previously announced that he would unveil the proposal before the start of the March election.

“I do welcome the policy detail from Labor when it comes to gaming reform,” Cameron said.

“We still don’t have that from the New South Wales Coalition government, something that I’ve been calling for and asking for some time now. Let’s hope that they do see Labor’s policy as a low bar and do much better.

“If they don’t, the crossbench and independents and the Greens will certainly seek to strengthen any proposal that is put forward to parliament.”

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